Add N to (X) - All Night LazyKelley Polar - Sea of Sine Waves...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags & CodesArchitecture in Helsinki - It's 5!Air - Surfing on a RocketMúm - The Land Between Solar SystemsYoung Galaxy - The Alchemy Between UsTokyo Police Club - The Harrowing Adventures Of...

Am I on to something here? And, more importantly: can anyone one-up me on this one?

Ok guys, we need to get all the musicians on here writing an XKCD theme song.I'd say we should get into two groups, one to write the lyrics and one to write the music. They can overlap, of course.Let's do it.

SkaBassist wrote:Ok guys, we need to get all the musicians on here writing an XKCD theme song.I'd say we should get into two groups, one to write the lyrics and one to write the music. They can overlap, of course.Let's do it.

I wrote a theme and variations on the xkcd classics. It's for mixed quartet (what four instruments happen to be available) and since I'm in Germany without a printer, I can't actually get it played. Any suggestions? otherwise, I can just wait till I get home in two weeks.

lira_riu wrote:I wrote a theme and variations on the xkcd classics. It's for mixed quartet (what four instruments happen to be available) and since I'm in Germany without a printer, I can't actually get it played. Any suggestions? otherwise, I can just wait till I get home in two weeks.

lira_riu wrote:Sorry, what's a Software sequencer? I already have a midi file... but I really despise midi instruments.

it's a program which lets you put create music (many of them let you import MIDI files) which is then synthesized by the program's built-in instruments. One of the better-known ones is Apple's Garage Band (as much as I don't really like Apple, it's one of the best examples), but there are many different ones, in both pay-for and free and/or open-source flavors. The one I have installed is a demo version of FL Studio, which is identical to the full version except it doesn't let you save a work-in-progress. That's okay though, because I figured out an exploit which lets you kind-of save: you have to assign MIDI instruments instead of whatever synthesized instruments you have and export it as a MIDI file, then re-import the MIDI file later when you want to work on it again.

lira_riu wrote:Sorry, what's a Software sequencer? I already have a midi file... but I really despise midi instruments.

If midi-instruments happen to be four available instruments, wouldn't that count?

Some samplers found in sequencers can have great sounds and if you nudge the perfectly timed score around a little, it doesn't sound mechanical at all.

I've been using FL Studio (the one sillybear mentioned) for the last six years. You can download the demo (beware, 100+ MB) and play around with some instruments/synths on that midi and then render an mp3. I can also make one if you'd like. I assume your goal is to display your work to us xkcdians?

yes, I would like to share a recording with everyone. Since I'm a mac user, I already have garageband, though I've never used it. I thought it was for people who didn't read music. But, like I said, if I wait a bit, I might be able to round up some live people with physical instruments and record. If I'm bored, I might see what I can get on my own.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Edit: I can't figure out how to upload a midi in GarageBand. Also, thanks for the link, but there doesn't appear to be a mac version...

BomanTheBear wrote:For some reason, I feel like Aeroplane over the Sea by neutral milk hotel would be a good theme song for the comic. I don't particularly like the song, but it seems to have about the right vibe.

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. ~ R. A. Heinlein

I have been thinking about the possibility of an "XKCD" song ttto "YMCA" for a while, and was surprised to find no Googleable evidence that anyone else had already written or (outside of this thread here) considered it. Here's my attempt at it — I've tried to mention a good representative sample of xkcd tropes, but I would also welcome suggestions for alternative lyrics: